Dear Electronics Industry, Status of EETimes Print

EETimes.com is committed to being your go-to online community for the global electronics industry.

[The following is
the frontpiece to the Dec. 2012 EE Times. I wasn't going to post it,
because it doesn't transfer directly from print to online. But I've
received so many questions from readers, electronics companies, and the
marketing and public-relations communities, that I feel this is the most
effective and transparent way of answering your queries.]

The December 2012 issue you've just received in the mail marks an important milestone in the evolution of EE Times -- it's our last regularly scheduled print edition. There will be special issues in the future, likely in digital form. But our "interface" will permanently segue from your mail carrier to your Internet Service Provider.

I'm supposed to tell you that this is a good thing, that our Web site has become a vital, online community destination where you interact with your peers, where you can read articles that are fresher than those in dead-tree version, where there are slideshows and videos and EE Times University. Lots and lots of valuable, technical stuff. Fortunately, this has the virtue of being true. And yet.

Forty years of history is a heavy load to summarize, and say sayonara to, in a 500-word essay. (To be clear: EE Times is NOT going away. Come visit EETimes.com. Often. Attend EETimes University; come to our great live events, DesignCon and Design West.)

Firstly, it's important to respectfully address a question many of you are going to have: "I love EE Times; Why are you doing this?" Some may add: "This is outrageous. Please cancel my subscription."

Let me put it bluntly: protesting that you personally read print and only print says much about you but nothing about demographics, economics, or modern information-consumption patterns. If you're my age, your first exposure to trade publications was taking them along for a read when you took a 15-min break at work in the morning. I'm not talking coffee break, either.

Today, newly minted engineers get their news by typing in a bookmark, launching an app, or chatting with a colleague. Often, they don't know or care where that information comes from, as long as it speaks to their immediate needs. This logically points towards busting through brand agnosticism and making EETimes.com the best darn must-read site on the planet.

I personally believe we are in a post-literate society. It's just that no one has solved the Hulu voodoo economics equation for the tech sector. Videos remain expensive and time-consuming to create. That's changing, albeit slowly. Remember that it took almost a decade for the lowly CD-ROM to become mainstream.

I'd analogize our collective relationship with what you're holding in your hand to a long marriage that's fallen apart. It doesn't mean that the good stuff never happened, nor that you don't look back fondly on a past which seems simultaneously distant and immediately accessible. (Maybe it's in our brains' L1 cache.)

What it does mean is, it's time to move on and embrace the future. So put this issue in a shrine-like place next to your Beatles albums and your 1986 New York Mets cap. Pick it up every now and again and think fondly about the old days. Then put it back and click through to EETimes.com. Because we've got work to do, problems to solve, and the future to build.[P.S. Dear readers, vendors, PR and marketing professionals, industry executives: If you'd like to offer feedback, if you have questions, or if you'd just like to talk, please don't hesitate to email me at alex.wolfe@ubm.com or call me at 516-562-7386. And thanks for listening, understanding, and continuing to be a part of the EETimes community and family.]

Totally agree. I must say that I can't understand how anyone could be in favor of preserving print for technical information - I used to spend about half my time filing papers in different ways so that I could find them; now that is done in a few seconds with search software on my computer. But video: exactly as betajet says.

20 years ago, riding on the Caltrain to San Francisco from Redwood City, I could look down from the top deck of the car I was sitting in and see dozens of people reading newspapers, magazines and books. 5 years ago I looked down and saw three people reading magazines and a dozen listening to music and podcasts on digital devices. Two years ago I saw no one reading anything. All content consumed was in the form of video.
12 years ago I started writing to clients that if they didn't get back on board with supporting an independent press with advertising they were going to lose their media. 6 years later I gave up trying to convince them and started writing a blog at how we needed to adjust our communications strategies to new media, including video, and start getting used to paying for our content or see it turn into regurgitated marcom copy.
I hate to say I told you so.
UBM has been one of the few media companies that has demonstrated a willingness to evolve.

Like Bert, I haven't seen a print version for a looong time. Two things will make the e-version great:
- Availability of PDFs of articles, expecially those with any tutorial content - this could be improved
- a good search fucntion (which you already have in large part
In other words, this doesn't bother me a bit, but keep improving the online version.

@betajet- I respect what you're saying. I'd clarify my "post-literate" society remark by noting that I'm not commenting on which format is "better." I'm simply stating what is. Since the remark is reductionist by definition -- i.e., clearly not EVERYBODY is in a post-literate "I'll consume video, video, video" -- I think it's more the case that I'm a little bit ahead of the curve.

Two comments and two questions: Convenience is on the side of online; the pdf route is an ongoing experiment. Have you seen EE Times Confidential?
http://confidential.eetimes.com/
Are you willing to pay for content in depth?

“you can access EE Times anytime, anywhere (computer/tablet/phone)”: While I don’t necessarily disagree with the move to digital, the above is not a true statement. Perhaps one day it will be, but I have the same issue with it that I do with storing my music on the cloud: I can not access the internet in all places. There are many places in this country (I’m in the US) where connectivity is still an issue. Folks living in large cities still tend to forget that.

Alex has it right up to a point: the old like print or digital text; the young less so and like the idea of video. I remember when building a helicopter surveillance sight that the combination of text, digital text and video was a good mix but the video was structured and focused on the really difficult to understand instructions.
I used to like ripping out interesting articles for future ref and still do. Can I suggest that you use an on-line format which allows the reader to download pdf versions by article? That would be really good because I'm not someone who wants to be connected to the web all the time - just when I need to be (good for security and when in places with poor wireless/3G/4G) so archiving on hard disc is my way to go. Comments?

My surprise is, I thought you had ALREADY gone all-digital! Used to read the paper version years ago. Wait. What's the date on the article? Nope, it's today's date alright. Not a nostalgic retrospective. How odd!
The electronic veriosn works just fine for me. And it's a lot easier to write comments when you've just read the article. I think the reader comments are immensely useful. I'd hate to go back to articles sans the EEs' comments.

Welcome to pure digital then :- ) Now that you are going down this path, may I suggest that you let some air into your typography on your site? This Arial font is such a turn off on the screen. As your print publication design folks can tell you, getting the layout design right is art and your print pub is very good, and readable, which is the main point. Your website needs the same quality, I must say. I like Fast Company website, for example. I know I know it takes a lot of work to overhaul the website but it'll be worth it :- ) Thanks!
SR